Spindle brake



Oct. 30, 1962 M. D. TETREAULT SPINDLE BRAKE Filed Aug. 31, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. MERRITT D. TETREAULT ATTORNEY 30, 1952 M. D. TETREAULT 3,

SPINDLE BRAKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 31, 1959 INVENTOR. L- MERRITT D. TETREAULT ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,060,671 SPINDLE BRAKE Merritt D. Tetreault, East Douglas, Mass., assignor to Whitin Machine Works, Whitinsville, Mass., 2 corporation of Massachusetts Filed Aug. 31, 1959, Ser. No. 837,113 6 Claims. (CI. 57-88) This invention relates to new and improved constructions for brakes for stopping and temporarily holding individual spindles in textile spinning or twisting frames. It is sometimes necessary to stop an individual spindle because of the occurrence of a broken end, and this stopping and holding of the spindle must be accomplished while the frame itself continues in operation.

The principal object of the present invention resides in the provision of a spindle brake construction of a greatly improved and simplified nature in which there is provided means by which the operator may operate the brake by hand or knee as desired; the provision of a brake in which the braking force applied is uniformly distributed over a substantial area of the spindle wall in order to make the braking smoother and more eflicient, while at the same time reducing wear; the provision of a brake of greatly simplified construction which enables the braking members or brake shoes to operate quickly, easily and smoothly to and from braking and non-braking positions; the provision of a spindle brake of the class described in which the braking members or shoes when worn, may be replaced quickly without the use of special tools, because of the simplified and improved construction; and the provision of a spindle brake which operates quickly and easily under the control of the machine operator to stop the spindle by a very short motion of a brake-operating arm, and in which the operators mere release of the brake-operating arm provides for immediate release of the brake.

The invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly set forth in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which- FIG. 1 is a view of the entire assembly in elevation, parts being in section;

FIG. 2 is a section on line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the collar for the spindle base, part being broken away and in section;

FIG. 4 is a view in elevation thereof, looking in the direction of arrow 4 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a combined view showing the brake shoes in plan;

FIG. 6 is a view in elevation, looking in the direction of arrow 6 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the brake arm;

FIG. 8 is a view in side elevation thereof, looking in the direction of arrow 8 in FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a detail view illustrating the spring wire for holding the brake shoes in inoperative position.

Referring first to FIG. 1, there are here shown some of the usual parts of a spindle including a blade 10, a whorl 12, a spindle base unit 14, the same having a collar 16 clamped to a rail 13 by means of a nut 20. In general these parts are old and well known.

In the invention, the spindle base 14 is preferably made of tubing, and it has intermediate the ends thereof a threaded portion 22 which is adapted to receive the threaded bore 24 of the collar 16 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). The spindle base 14 may be provided with means to make it adjustable with respect to the collar 16, but on the other hand this collar if desired may be fixed to the base by any means as by pinning, staking, or otherwise.

The collar 16 is provided with an interrupted generally annular recess or groove 26 which is adapted to receive at opposite sides a pair of brake shoes 28. Being so disposed with relation to the spindle, these brake shoes apply equal forces on the opposite sides of the axis of rotation of the spindle when the brake is actuated, thereby balancing the forces applied to the spindle. These brake shoes are preferably molded of a material which may be referred to as a rigid friction material. The brake shoes themselves are provided with beveled end surfaces at 30 (see particularly FIGS. 1 and 6). These shoes are normally held against the inner surface of the recess or groove structure 26 by means of a spring wire ring 34 (FIG. 9) which lies in a small peripheral groove 36 in the brake shoes and holds the same to surface 32 but allows expansion to accomplish the brake action as will be described hereinafter.

The collar 16 has flat sides as shown in FIG. 3 and these fiat sides intermediate the ends thereof are provided with vertical or upstanding indentations 38, these indentations 38 being in the nature of guide slots into which the beveled end portions of the brake shoes extend as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The brake actuating means comprises a U-shaped member including a pair of arms 40, 40, these arms being spaced and connected to support a depending arm 42 adapted to be operated by the operators hand or knee as will become more apparent hereinafter. The arms 40, 40 embrace the collar at the flat edges thereof and terminate at approximately the location of the guide slots 38. Within this area, the collar is provided with an enlarged depending flange 44, one portion of which is included between the arms 40, 40, see FIG. 2. At their ends and at their inner surfaces, the arms 40, 40 are each provided with a brake actuator means 46 pinned thereto as by pins 48. These brake actuators 46 are rotatably mounted with respect to pins 48 which may be fixed either to arms 40 or to the actuators 46 but not to both.

The brake actuator devices 46 are provided at their upper ends with beveled edges 50 and these are interposed between the beveled ends 30, 30 of the brake shoes as is perhaps most clearly shown in FIG. 1. These brake actuators are therefore in a position to spread the ends of the brake shoes 28 by being raised in conjunction with the beveled edges at 30, thereby acting in the nature of cams.

The brake actuators 46 are each provided with a compression spring or the like 52 which sets in a socket therein and extends upwardly into contact with a top flange at 54 on the collar 16. These springs normally maintain the brake actuators 46 and arms 40 down in fiat contact with the top edge of the rail 18, and spring ring 34 maintains the brake shoes in their inward position out of contact with the interior of the rim or skirt 56 on the whorl, which acts as the braking surface.

However, by pressing the arm 42 inwardly or to the right for instance in FIG. 1, the same will pivot on the forward edge of the rail 18 as at point 58 which acts as a fulcrum, thus raising the brake actuators and spreading the brake shoes 28 as above described into firm contact with the inner surface of the depending skirt or flange 56 on the whorl and this of course will stop the rotation of the spindle and hold the same stopped while the ends are being connected.

This relatively simple and inexpensive construction provides a very easily operated brake which requires little exertion to stop the spindle. When pressure is removed from the brake lever 42, the mechanism quickly returns to its normal position due to the spring construction described. Also, when it is necessary to replace a brake shoe, this is quickly and easily done by reason of the simplicity of the novel construction.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not Wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. A brake construction for textile spindles comprising a blade, a whorl, a braking surface on the whorl, a rail, a spindle base, a collar on the spindle base within the braking surface, a braking element on the collar, means yieldably holding the braking element in released nonbraking position relative to the braking surface, and means to move the braking element to engage the braking surface, said last-named means including an arm arcuately movable by the operator, said arm resting on the rail, a portion of the rail acting as a fulcrum for the arm, a braking element actuator on the arm, said actuator engaging the braking element and moving the latter against the action of said yieldable holding means to brake the spindle upon motion of the arm in an arc about the fulcrum on the rail, and resilient means normally urging the brake actuator and the arm to a position releasing the braking element from the braking surface.

2. A brake construction for a textile spindle having a blade, whorl, spindle base, and a rail, said whorl having a braking surface thereon, said brake construction comprising braking elements arranged cooperatively with said braking surface, beveled surfaces on the braking elements, means normally holding the braking elements out of contact with the braking surface, and means to yieldably move the braking elements into engagement with the braking surface, said braking element moving means comprising an arm, spaced brake element actuators on the arm, said actuators engaging the braking elements at spaced points and thereby actuating the same to cause the braking elements to be moved in a direction at right angles to the motion of the actuators to engage the braking surface upon movement of the arm in a certain direction by the operator, and resilient means returning the brake actuator to element-released position upon release of the arm by the operator.

3. A brake construction for a textile spindle having a rail, blade, whorl, spindle base and collar on the spindle base, said whorl having a braking surface thereon, said brake construction comprising arcuate braking elements arranged about the collar cooperatively with said braking surface, beveled surfaces on the end portions of each braking element, means normally holding the braking elements out of contact with the braking surface, means to yieldably move the braking elements into engagement with the braking surface, said braking element moving means comprising a yoke including spaced legs, a camlike brake element actuator on each leg of the yoke, said actuators separately engaging the beveled surfaces of said braking elements and acting to separate the same, causing the braking elements to be moved apart to engage the braking surface, means to move the yoke and thus the cam-like brake element actuators to engage the beveled surfaces, said yoke having a closed end fulcrumed on the rail, the means to move the yoke including an arm thereon to incline the yoke legs simultaneously by moving the yoke on its fulcrum on the rail.

4. A brake construction for a textile spindle having a blade, whorl, spindle base, and a collar on the spindle base, said whorl having a braking surface thereon, said brake construction comprising braking elements on the collar arranged cooperatively with said braking surface, means normally holding the braking elements out of contact with the braking surface, and means to yieldably move the braking elements into engagement with the braking surface, said braking element moving means comprising a movable arm, a yoke on the arm, spaced braking element actuators on the yoke, the arm acting to tilt the yoke With the actuators being moved parallel to the axis of the spindle, said actuators engaging the braking elements and thereby separating the same to cause the braking elements to be moved apart to engage the braking surface upon movement of the arm in a certain direction by the operator, and resilient means returning the brake actuators to element-released position upon release of the arm by the operator.

5. The brake construction of claim 2 wherein the braking elements and the actuators are arranged with relation to the spindle so as to apply equal forces on the opposite sides of the axis of rotation of the spindle when the brake is actuated, thereby to balance the forces applied to the spindle.

6. The brake construction of claim 4 wherein the yoke straddles the collar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,481,043 Sacchini Sept. 6, 1949 2,566,258 Sweet Aug. 28, 1951 2,657,523 Kooistra Nov. 3, 1953 2,942,406 Ellinger June 28, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 602,117 Great Britain May 20, 1948 

